1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of gaming and, more particularly, to a linking component, system, and method for providing additional services, such as cashless gaming and player tracking, at a gaming machine.
2. Background Information
Gaming machines, such as spinning reel slot machines, typically accept only coins or cash as monetary input for gaming. FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an exemplary cash-only gaming machine 100. As shown, gaming machine 100 includes a game processor 102, which includes game software 120, and game peripheral devices 118, which include a game display 104, an audio device 106, a bill acceptor 108, a coin acceptor 110, a coin hopper 112, one or more buttons 114, and other gaming devices 116 (such as hard meters).
Game processor 102 typically communicates with and controls peripheral devices 118. In addition, game processor 102 runs game software 120, which has been certified by governmental gaming regulators to ensure compliance with governmental regulations on gaming. Among other things, game software 120 controls the number of wins and losses. In order to prevent modification of game software 120 following the certification process, regulators will usually seal the housing containing the game processor with, for example, a tamper-proof tape. If the seal is broken, game processor 102 and game software 120 must undergo another review by the governmental gaming regulators.
Game display 104 displays game information, such as entertaining graphics (e.g., spinning reels) and/or the outcome of a game, to players. Game display 104 may include, for example, a video monitor, mechanical reels, an LED display, or even a touch screen video monitor for displaying video graphics and receiving player inputs.
Audio device 106 presents audio, such as bells, whistles, and other sounds, to players. Audio device 106 may comprise, for example, a audio card, amplifier, and/or speaker.
Bill acceptor 108 accepts and validates bills in one or more denominations. Similarly, coin acceptor 110 accepts and validates coins in one or more denominations. Coin acceptor 110 may comprise, for example, a coin comparator or a coin mechanism. Coin acceptor 110 may divert incoming coins to coin hopper 112. Coin hopper 112 comprises a coin bucket located inside gaming machine 100, which holds several hundred coins and is capable of accurately dispensing the proper quantity of coins to a winning player. In addition, coin hopper 112 may include a sensor (not shown) that detects when coin hopper 112 overfills and causes coin hopper 112 to dispense extra coins into a drop bucket (not shown) in the gaming machine 100. Gaming facility personnel later collect the coins in the drop bucket.
Gaming machine 100 also includes buttons 114 or other devices, such as a touch screen, for accepting player inputs. Buttons 114 may include, for example, “Bet One Credit,” “Bet Max Credits,” and “Cash Out,” and other buttons that enable a player to initiate game play, enter a wager amount, and/or cash out. Finally, gaming machine 100 may include any number of other gaming devices 116, such as hard meters to record, for example, the amount of winnings on gaming machine 100.
Cash-only gaming machines like the one depicted in FIG. 1A suffer many problems. For example, casinos and other gaming facilities have to spend large amounts of money a year to maintain the machines due to mechanical problems related to accepting and dispensing coins and bills. These same facilities must pay higher operating and security costs, paying for employees to fill and empty gaming machine drop buckets and coin hoppers, transport the coins and bills to a counting room, count or weigh the coins, transport the coins and bills to a vault, and issue the coins and bills to cashiers. Furthermore, cash-only machines make it difficult for players to move from one machine to the next. If, for example, a player wishes to move from a slot machine to a video poker machine, he must cash out of the slot machine, perhaps receiving a load of coins as payment for winning, and carry the coins to the video poker machine to begin to play again. Not only is it cumbersome for the player to carry a large number of coins, but also the player loses playing time and risks dropping coins or theft while carrying them to the other machine. The gaming facility may also lose revenue from the lost playing time. The problem is exacerbated when a player attempts to move between gaming machines that accept different coin or bill denominations. Still another problem with these cash-only gaming machines is that these machines may not provide additional services, such as player tracking.
Due to the above-mentioned problems with the cash-only gaming machines, many gaming machines have been developed to provide cashless gaming, for example, gaming that uses electronic funds transfer, credit cards, and account-based payment, and/or to provide additional services, such as player tracking. Some of these gaming machines have been designed to retrofit existing gaming machines to accept these new forms of payment and/or to provide additional services, such as player tracking. These “retrofit” machines require updating game software 120 or otherwise modifying game processor 102.
FIG. 1B is a block diagram of such a retrofit gaming machine 130. Gaming machine 130 is similar to gaming machine 100 in that it provides cash gaming. Gaming machine 130, however, also provides player tracking functions, such as tracking the amount of money a player has bet. Like gaming machine 100, gaming machine 130 includes a game processor 102, which includes game software 120, and game peripheral devices 118, which include a game display 104, an audio device 106, a bill acceptor 108, a coin acceptor 110, a coin hopper 112, one or more buttons 114, and other gaming devices 116 (such as hard meters). As shown in FIG. 1B, game software 120 needs to be modified to provide player tracking functions.
In addition, gaming machine 130 includes a player tracking processor 122, a display device 124, a card reader 126, and a keypad 128 to provide player tracking functions. Player tracking processor 122 may include any device that communicates with game processor 102 and a player tracking computer (not shown) to provide various player tracking functions, such as tracking the amount of money a player has bet and issuing points to the player based on that amount. Display device 124 may display various kinds of information to the player, such as the number of points in the player's account. Card reader 126 may include any card reader that reads information from a card. Keypad 128 may include a device for entering a password, personal identification number (PIN), and/or other information.
These retrofit machines, however, have problems of their own. First, changes to game software 120 are expensive and time consuming to make. Moreover, the software upgrades required to convert the gaming machines vary from vendor to vendor, making it difficult to develop a standard software upgrade that will work with every gaming machine. Furthermore, changes to the game software may change game performance, game look and feel, and pay tables or outcomes, which may result in dissatisfied players. Finally, changes to game software 120 and game processor 102 would require breaking the seal of the housing containing game processor 102, which would in turn require re-certification of the game software 120 by governmental gaming regulators. Such re-certification may be expensive and time consuming.